Negev Bedouin

The Negev Bedouin (Arabic: بدو النقب‎, Badū an-Naqab; Hebrew: הבדואים בנגב‎ Habeduim Banegev) are traditionally pastoral nomadic Arab tribes living in the Negev region in Israel.

From 1858 during Ottoman rule, a process of sedentarization was imposed on the Negev Bedouin which accelerated after the founding of Israel. In the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, most resettled in neighbouring regions. Between 1968 and 1989, Israel built seven townships in the northeast of the Negev for the Bedouin population, with about half of them relocating to these areas. Others remained in unrecognized villages built without planning which lacked basic services such as electricity and running water. The Israeli government has gradually recognized some of them and taken measures to improve infrastructure and basic services, while the majority are slated for destruction with the population facing forced displacement. The Prawer Plan was drawn up to address land ownership claims and compensation. The plan also called for the evacuation of 35 unrecognized villages and the resettlement of residents in existing or new towns. According to human rights organizations opposed to the plan, it discriminated against the Bedouin population of the Negev and violated the community's historic land rights. In December 2013, the plan was rescinded.

Negev

The Negev (Hebrew: הַנֶּגֶב, Tiberian vocalization: han-Néḡeḇ , Arabic: النقب‎ an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. 196,000), in the north. At its southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort city of Eilat. It contains several development towns, including Dimona, Arad and Mitzpe Ramon, as well as a number of small Bedouin cities, including Rahat and Tel as-Sabi. There are also several kibbutzim, including Revivim and Sde Boker; the latter became the home of Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, after his retirement from politics.

The desert is home to the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, whose faculties include the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research and the Albert Katz International School for Desert Studies, both located on the Midreshet Ben-Gurion campus adjacent to Sde Boker.

In October 2012, global travel guide publisher Lonely Planet rated the Negev second on a list of the world's top ten regional travel destinations for 2013, noting its current transformation through development.